The Guy Who Blew The Whistle On Goldman's Tax Evasion In The UK Could Get Canned

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After having his identify exposed on Thursday when Parliamentary evidence was made public, the whistleblower who exposed that senior tax collectors let Goldman get away with not paying millions of pounds in tax penalties may be facing disciplinary measures and prosecution.

Osita Mba worked at HM Revenue & Customs for four years before exposing the handshake deal with Dave Harnett, head of tax collection, that allowed Goldman to avoid approximately $15 million in taxes. Now he finds his job in danger for speaking out. Mba has been banned from the Revenue building without an escort and may have to appear in court after facing internal disciplinary procedures.

The relatively small amount is not likely to be a big a concern for UK executives at the US bank. More frustrating to those at Goldman is that such a small tax deal would drag their name back into the public eye.

The Guardian reports that such treatment has angered Members of Parliament, who have hailed the the value of whistleblowers to the public:

Margaret Hodge, Labour chair of the committee - which uncovered the deal using Mba's evidence - said: "Whistleblowers play such an important role that the previous government brought in legislation to protect them.

"Mr Mba's evidence has been crucial in uncovering not just specific but systemic problems in HMRC's secretive relationship with big corporations.

"This is harassment and is completely unacceptable."

Stephen Barclay, a Conservative MP on the committee, said it would ask further questions about HMRC's approach to whistleblowers. "We have already seen how whistleblowers from the health world have been stopped from disclosing information by their managers. It appears that a similar obstructive approach may now be being followed by Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.